Concealed skylight ventilation



Patented Feb. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to skylight, vault light or the like structuresand has for its particular object the provision of ventilating meansassociated with the said lights. Essentially, it aims to provideconcealed and automatic ventilation, namely, the provision of skylightor the like supported on a roof curb or other part of a building, withan overhang,1and associated with it the combination of skylightsupporting structure, in order that'free air circulation or controlledair circulation under the glass surface and above the support, isprovided.

In its preferred form I provide a skylight having fabricatedinterlocking metal structure carrying and supporting with all therequired load strength, the usual glasslights, such as shown anddescribed in my Patent No. 1,784,678 of December 9, 1930, or myco-pending application Serial No. 517,144. Such fabricated metalstructure is supported on a masonry or other curb on a roof or otherbuildingpart or portion, with I a portion of the skylight overhangingthe support, and thereby protected by the skylight, while thereunder anopen space is provided between the adjacent metal structure memberstraversing the curb support, so that an air space concealed under theglass and protected by the overhanging glassis provided. This concealedventilation spacethus provided by the combination of the elements in mystructure I make in such proportions to the requirements of ventilation,so that the flow of air automatically approximates the desired volume tomeet the conditions of ventilation as desired.

In other forms of construction the concealed and protected air passagesare equipped with shutters in various forms so that the flow of air canbe regulated. With shutter control a wide range of temperatureconditions inside the building, or under the glass light, as comparedwith outside temperatures can be accommodated by regulation in a verysimple manner.

My invention thus provides for automatic or controlled ventilation bythe combination of suitable skylight or floor light structure, and in asimple manner mounting the same so as to provide at practically noadditional cost for the concealed and protected air passages. Inskylights as heretofore made special additional features of constructionor variations in shape have been necessary to provide for ventilation,and usually no means for regulation of the ventilation except at muchadditional cost, and such skylights usually require special shapesexpensive to manufacture and to install- In comparison, my skylights maybe prefabricated in the shop with economy, and installed at a minimum ofcost, and still provide all the necessary strength with the maximum oflight penetration, and in addition afford, by their method ofinstallation, the combination of structure assuring the automatic orcontrolled concealed ventilation.

For purposes of illustration one form of embodiment of my invention isshown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. I shows in perspective, fragmentary, an end of a skylight panel, ora portion, overhanging a support or its equivalent for the purpose ofthis invention.

Fig. II is a section, through II-II, Fig. I.

Fig. III is a partial section on the line IIIIII I of Fig. I.

Fig. IV is a section, showing in part the same as Fig. II, with ashuttercarried by the support or other part of the building structure.

Fig. V is a similar view showing a butterfly valve, as in Fig. III,supported on the fabricated structure of the skylight panel.

As shown in Fig. I, a portion of skylight A is shown in perspective asone end of a'panel of a self-supporting fabricated structure carryingthe glass or lenses, with that end supported on a curb B which in turnis mounted on the roof 0. The curb projecting above the roof andsupporting, in the manner hereinafter described, one end of the panel,serves to illustrate my invention, while it will be understood that anysuitable supporting means that will hold the skylight panel and itsglass above the adjacent area, and provide for the requirements of myinvention, are within the purposes of my invention. It will be notedalso that the roof may be any portion adjacent to the overhanging partof the skylight, vault light or the like, and is not necessarily thenormal roof of the building, though my invention applies moreparticularly to skylights on building roofs. And also the sklight mayhave its weight supported in many ways, so long as the equivalent of thecurb as here described provides for air control permitting protected orconcealed apertures for ventilation.

As-particularly illustrated, the frame members -D-D and E are outermembers of a skylight panel fabricated with structural steel members F-Fwith interlocking transverse members G-G. This frame with theinterlocking fabricated structure,D, E, F, G members-constitute apreconstructed skylight panel with almost the entire area, over ninetyper cent are apertures adapted to support the lenses or glass plates,

which may be set into their apertures when the fabricated panel is madein the shop, or may be inserted thereafter. As shown in my issued patentand co-pending application heretofore cited, the glass lenses are setand the interstices are filled with material, as set forth in myprevious patent application, forming a weatherproof and expansible jointbetween the glasses, or between the glasses and any metal fincooperating for thepositioning of the glasses.

As shown in Fig. II, the frame member F or D rests on a bearing B of thecurb so that the skylight panel structure holds the glass H a predetermined distance, that is'spaced above the bearing surface of thecurb B,so that an air space is provided between the glass surface of theskylight and the curb underlying the skylight panel. This space' isbetween the outer frame member E of the panel and the next transversemember G in the fabricated structure of the panel, when such transversemembers are of the same depth as the members F or D that support thepanel on the curb, thereby giving a space between the lower edge of theouter frame member E, permitting air circulation above the curb surfaceB and above the adjacent roof portion C. When the transverse member G isof the same depth as the outer frame member E, then the structuralmember G of the panel is on one side of the curb support B so that thereis a space, as desired, to permit the flow 'of air between it and thesupport, and thus between the glass and support and to the outlet,weather-protected and concealed. Thus I provide the concealed andweather-protected ventilating space inherently in the construction andmounting of my skylight, vault light or the like. The structural dimen-'sions are made so that variations in height of frame or in the contouror section of the curb establish the-desired area of air vents, in orderto suit the particular requirements of ventilation desired in theparticular case of installation.

As shown in Figs. III, IV and V, I provide shutter construction tovoluntarily close the air ducts which have been established-as a.permanentinstallation. These shutters may be mounted for manual controlor automatic control, as may be desired, dependent upon the flow of airor temperature variations, or otherwise.

As shown in Figs. III and V, sheet metal shutters J'J are mounted ineach space between members of the fabricated panel structure and carriedby pintles K-K, which permit their articulation for opening and closingby shifting from 'a. vertical position to any angle, and affording athorizontal position the maximum open area of the air vent. At the sideof the panel, K

is a supporting pintle permitting the articulation of the shutter, whilethe other pintles may be supported in holes or bushings in the membersFF, and when rigidly riveted, welded or bolted to the shutters J-J theentire bank or series of "shutters may be manipulated simultaneously asby the rod L attached to one blade of one shutter, as shown in Fig. V,which rod L-constitutes a manipulating-means for'opening and closing theshutters by hand, or may be connected with any suitable controlmechanism to provide for their desired manipulation.

In Fig. IV a shutter M-is mounted on a hinge supported at N on the curbB with a control member 0 adapted toopen and close the shutter.

These shuttersmay be mounted at the point of exit of hot air fromthe-building going up and through the ventilating vent, -or'may be atany point along the passageway above the curb, or may be mounted at theexit,-and conversely should the ventilation serve for the intake of airthe control by shutter may be at any point desired to best regulate andcontrol the air, and at the same time provide the most advantageousarrangement for weather-protection at the exit, or the orifice of thevent is protected from the outside air where snow may accumulate, andfor the purpose of preventing any splash of water in the case of heavyrain, as well as many conditions incident to heavy snow fall.

It will be understood that the panel shown in Fig. I may be duplicated,or any number of panels mounted in'a manner suitable for the purpose ofmy invention, and all the adjacent margins of the panel frame or theouter frames of the plurality of panels, will be sealed to the curb, ormay be supported by lateral curbs to provide the normal weathertightclosure of the skylight with the roofor adjacent part of the structurein which the skylight is embodied. In this respect the entire skylightstructure of one or a number of panels may have its weight carried bycurb or curbs around its edges or margins, and the particular curbcooperating with an overhanging portion of the panel or light, maycooperate only for the purposes of this invention, while supporting onlylittle of the weight or even none of the weight, but constituting themeans of confining the space under the overhanging skylight in order toprovide the air ducts necessary for ventilating purposes-and forautomatic or controlled ventilation.

In its preferred'form my structure is particularly advantageous in thatit makes possible a. pre-constructed skylight, fabricated entirely inthe shop, and may have the entire shutter and shutter-control mechanismfabricated and mounted with the skylight, in the shop, so that thepre-fabricated structure is set in place on the roof, in conjunctionwith a curb, so that the automatic or controlled ventilation is providedwithout any-cost of construction or assembly on the job. This providesfor a most economical means of construction, and with the types offabricated skylight and vault light structure as shown in my patent-orpatent application heretofore cited, assures a-most'economicalproduction "and installation compared with anything heretofore used,with the added advantages as embodied in this application and set forthin the-appended claims.

While not confining myself to the particular formsof construction hereinshown and described,

tural support, whereby 'deep load-supporting -members of said fabricatedstructure lie across "said support providing passage for air betweensaid portion and the support and between the load-carrying members.

2. The combination of a skylight, vault light 'or the like and asupporting member on a roof or the like, having a load-carryingfabricated metal "structure withdeep frame members and transverseframemembers forming apertures, glass lights -supportedadjacent the upperedges ofsaid W apertures forming light panels, a plurality of lightpanels spanning a roof support with the deep frame members resting onthe support transversely and with the other frame members in theopposite direction spaced away from the roof support, whereby airpassages are provided above the bottom of the frame members and over theroof support and under the glass light.

3. A ventilating skylight structure cooperating with a supporting memberon a roof or the like, a supporting roof curb member, a skylight havinga fabricated load-carrying structure with deep members in one directionand transverse members forming apertures, panels supported near the topof the load-carrying frame members, said skylight structure beingpositioned on said roof support with a panel extending over the roofsupport with one set of frame members traversing the roof support andthe frame members in the opposite direction spaced away from thesupport, for the purpose described and having a shutter carried by theskylight frame members 7 lower surface of said panel.

4. A skylight, vault light or the like, having a fabricated framesupporting structure with apertures supporting panels adjacent the topsurface of the supporting structure, deep load-carrying frame membersfor said structure extending substantially below said panels, memberstransverse of the load-carrying members cooperating to support saidpanels, said fabricated frame structure having a panel partiallyoverhanging a structural support, a structural support on a roof or thelike engaging the lower edges of the deep frame members and having saidtransverse frame members lying in the opposite direction spaced awayfrom the support whereby airflow is permitted between the members of thefabricated structure under the panel and above the support, and ashutter adapted to control the flow of air through the aperture betweenthe panel and the skylight support.

LOGAN WILLARD MULFORD.

